Drought in Chihuahua, Mexico

The absence of rain over the last two years has caused an extended drought emergency in the North of Mexico affecting agriculture and livestock. WSPA’s Sergio Vasquez travelled to two areas in the Chihuahua district. He shares his experience with us.

“The pastures have no green cover at all and animals are struggling to find feed. We have seen many animals that had died from the drought and in some cases animals have perished as they have got stuck in the dried out reservoirs with muddy bottoms.”

“Weakened animals have to walk further to find water and some of them do not make it; it’s very distressing to see”.

This is one of those situations that develops into a ‘disaster’ slowly, so although the water levels have been low for a long time, it has only now reached a critical stage. Though there is access to limited water holes there is very little left to eat in the semi-arid pastures and a single species of cactus called Nopal is all the cattle can find.

Following the field trip, the team is reviewing the results of the assessment; we will keep you informed of how we decide to proceed in Mexico in the coming days.

In the meantime our team in Colombia have deployed to Paraguay to measure the impact of the drought they are also experiencing.

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Drought in Chihuahua, Mexico

The absence of rain over the last two years has caused an extended drought emergency in the North of Mexico affecting agriculture and livestock. WSPA’s Sergio Vasquez travelled to two areas in the Chihuahua district. He shares his experience with us.

“The pastures have no green cover at all and animals are struggling to find feed. We have seen many animals that had died from the drought and in some cases animals have perished as they have got stuck in the dried out reservoirs with muddy bottoms.”

“Weakened animals have to walk further to find water and some of them do not make it; it’s very distressing to see”.

This is one of those situations that develops into a ‘disaster’ slowly, so although the water levels have been low for a long time, it has only now reached a critical stage. Though there is access to limited water holes there is very little left to eat in the semi-arid pastures and a single species of cactus called Nopal is all the cattle can find.

Following the field trip, the team is reviewing the results of the assessment; we will keep you informed of how we decide to proceed in Mexico in the coming days.

In the meantime our team in Colombia have deployed to Paraguay to measure the impact of the drought they are also experiencing.